Duck and Cover

 We survived the crazy tornadoes that hit DFW.

If I'm being frank here (and I can be frank since it's my blog) I am an idiot.  I honestly didn't realize just how much in danger we actually were until waaaaay after the fact.  Perhaps that's a tender mercy.  I don't know.

For me and the boys it all started around 1:30 when we were all calmly taking naps.  I vaguely heard the tornado sirens but in my sleepy haze I thought it was a noise that our air conditioner was making.

Then Mike started calling.  My phone was all the way over on the other side of the room so I just let it ring.  But then he called again and again.  So I picked up and he told me what was happening.

I switched on the news and holy crap!  Tornadoes everywhere!

But again I didn't think they were as close as they were because outside our windows everything was calm.  Eerily calm, actually.

No wind, just ominous dark clouds.

So we took cover in the closet (the safest place I could think of) and played with Dylan's cars.  I kept the laptop with me, keeping an eye on news websites and Facebook, checking in with friends in the area and staying on the phone with Mike.

We never lost power.  We never heard anything outside.  It was weird.

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Poor Kate.

At school they implemented "duck and cover"  for the children.  Kate's kindergarten class was whisked to the main building, which had lost power.  So for two hours the kids had to stay on their hands and knees in the pitch-dark hallway.  I had her demonstrate "duck and cover" last night.  She said that during the ordeal she was sad and a little bit scared.

Luckily the worst passed in the early afternoon and I was able to go pick her up from school.  She looked a little bit rattled, but her teacher seemed infinitely more so.  I'm grateful to all the teachers who kept our children safe and calm (ish) during the whole thing.

 It wasn't until Mike was home safe and sound and we watched all the coverage on the news that it sunk in just how much danger we had actually been in all afternoon.  The video was horrific!  And a lot of the damage happened just a few miles from us.

Oh, and Mike said he was really worried because last week he'd had a dream that Dylan was blown out the window by a huge gust of wind.  Well, now he tells me! Geez.

I am thankful that our home was spared; thankful that Kate was safe at school and that we were calm through the ordeal; and thankful my friends and family were alright too.

Very thankful indeed.